This martial artist looked at Gu Zuo, somewhat doubtfully.
Gu Zuo said: “There’s about a dozen or so people. Many of them are teenagers, and there’s only one young girl. They rode upon Armor-Plated Rhinos and should’ve entered the city several hours ago.”
When the martial artist heard this, his originally loosened heartstrings stretched taut once more. The look he gave Gu Zuo was also especially different.
When that group of people arrived, they all had an extraordinary presence. Seated upon wild beasts that were grade four and above, how couldn’t it attract everyone’s attention? None of the people along this street today didn’t know about it.
Why was this teenaged pharmacist asking about this? Were they acquaintances or enemies? Although he possessed martial power, he wasn’t willing to stir up any trouble.
Gu Zuo watched him act this way, and felt that the other side might’ve had a misunderstanding. He explained: “Those children are part of this Gu’s household. Because of a previous matter, we had to temporarily leave. Now we’re looking for them. If this Senior Brother knows, I hope it’s alright for you to tell us a thing or two.”
The martial artist saw that Gu Zuo was sincere and laid down his worries. He thought that this matter had nothing to do with him, and pointed the pharmacist in a certain direction: “Those people went to Qingyuan Tavern. They should’ve gone there for lodging. You can search for them ahead.”
Gu Zuo felt pleased, and promptly expressed his gratitude: “Many thanks for giving directions, Senior Brother.”
The martial artist saw him like this and slightly hesitated, but he said nothing else. He only waved his hand and turned around to continue eating.
All of this was naturally witnessed by Gongyi Tianheng.
After Gu Zuo returned to his side, he frowned and said: “Big brother, I have a feeling that something’s wrong.”
Tianheng faintly nodded: “He still has something to hide.”
Gu Zuo was a little puzzled, and guessed: “Could it be that something has happened?”
Gongyi Tianheng said: “Let’s go and find out.”
Deep in thought, Gu Zuo followed Tianheng as they headed in the direction of that Qingyuan Tavern.
One countered soldiers with arms and water with an earthen weir. With his big brother present, any problems weren’t problems at all.
— But he still wanted to know what could’ve happened during this time.
Along the journey, Gu Zuo unexpectedly discovered that there were fewer people and the general martial prowess was rising. Many Blood Refining and Bone Forging Realm martial artists were quickly walking away, and among the Meridian Condensing Realms, there seemed to be some who were hesitating and some who were animatedly going towards that direction.
Because of his astonishment, it was only natural that he stopped a few people to ask. Some of those people brushed him off, but some hurriedly answered: “Something has happened up ahead. You’re a pharmacist, so you shouldn’t get in on the action.”
Somehow, Gu Zuo had a premonition that the so-called “action” might’ve been something that Gongyi Tianyang and the others caused —
In that moment, Gu Zuo somewhat lost his patience and directly released his psychic power. In the blink of an eye, it extended out.
The feedback his psychic power brought back was very fast. As it turned out, the place where it happened was a Beast Taming Field, which had long existed in this Hezui City. This was a standard construct that would be established in every city. Although the Beast Taming Field here was previously abandoned, it had been recommissioned after a new land of adventure appeared outside of the city. Many martial artists who wanted to explore that land of adventure couldn’t do so without wild beasts to ride upon, and sometimes, there was nowhere to settle their wild beasts. As a result, the Beast Taming Field’s function arose.
Yet, at this time, there were two opposing groups of people in a confrontation at the Beast Taming Field.
Among one of the groups, the leader was Gongyi Tianyang! Tianyin, Tianhe, Mingxia, and the others all closely followed behind him. It could be said that the atmosphere between both sides was where swords were drawn and bows were bent.
Something that Gu Zuo couldn’t remain calm about was the opposing party’s strength. Among them were — Xiantian existences!
If they hadn’t come over, then everyone in the Gongyi Clan would’ve certainly suffered a loss!
Gu Zuo promptly withdrew his psychic power, turned his head, and told Tianheng about what he saw: “Big brother, we need to go quickly!”
Tianheng faintly nodded. He pulled Gu Zuo into his arms and his figure suddenly flew up several meters. In just the blink of an eye, they vanished from their original location.
After they departed, some martial artists who were passing through saw this, and they were all uniformly shocked:
“Xiantian...martial artist? A very young Xiantian martial artist!”
“The direction they’re heading towards is, is—”
“This time, the action’s going to be even bigger!”
“Right, right, right! Let’s hurry over to take a look! We can’t miss this huge opportunity!”
Among those who practiced martial artists, there were some dullards. Currently, they were making guesses one after another. In an instant, they became even more interested. As for the possibility of encountering danger... They were magnificent martial artists. How couldn’t they have even a bit of courage?
Thus, there were even more people.
Meanwhile, less than two minutes had passed and Gu Zuo and Gongyi Tianheng had already traveled a distance that normally required a long time to cross. Then they came to the outskirts of that Beast Taming Field. Their footsteps didn’t stop and they directly rushed in.
Outside of the Beast Taming Field, there was a Xiantian guard. His style of dress was unexpectedly ordinary. It only gave one a feeling that was very different from the martial artists of Hezui City — So to say, he was a foreigner. As a foreigner guarding this place, his identity was probably a companion of that group who were confronting Tianyang and the others.
Gu Zuo and Tianheng were blocked by this Xiantian: “Bystanders can only watch outside. You can’t enter!”
Indeed, the other martial artists were a couple steps back. No matter how crowded it became, they couldn’t really enter the Beast Taming Field.
Gu Zuo was dissatisfied.
This guy thought that he could stop them, that he could casually bully the people of the Gongyi Clan? That was too much!
Based on Gu Zuo’s notions, Gongyi Tianyang and the others absolutely weren’t the type who’d deliberately make trouble. Now that something had happened, it was most likely a problem with the other party. Most of all, he knew that the other side had Xiantians. Seeing this Xiantian arrogantly blocking the road, he was even more convinced.
Tianheng looked pensive.
Consequently, three words were transmitted into Gu Zuo’s head: Armor-Plated Rhinos.
Gu Zuo only felt rage boiling up from the bottom of his heart, which made his face flush red: “You—”
Too humiliating! This was insulting!
He almost couldn’t stop himself from releasing a Spirit Piercing Awl and giving this guy a ruthless beating!
However, Gongyi Tianheng acted first.
He stood with his hands clasped behind his back. He was tall and straight as a pine, and clear and bright as the moon. The moment he heard the words of that pretty-faced young man, Tianheng didn’t actually get angry. Nevertheless, when he acted, his body suddenly flashed by. A palm lightly pushed out.
The pretty-faced Xiantian deliberately insulted them, but didn’t expect that the other party wouldn’t be provoked into trading curses. Rather, the other side promptly responded, and took the initiative to attack!
The Xiantian’s perceptivity was very strong, and he had already detected Gongyi Tianheng’s action in that very instant. However, he didn’t anticipate that, although he made this discovery, he couldn’t react in time.
The pretty-faced Xiantian was already using the fastest speed to intercept that palm, but the palm disregarded all of his counterattacks. Using every means to dodge, it still firmly struck his chest.
Sizzle, sizzle—
After sounds of what seemed like burning and corrosion echoed out, the chest of that pretty-faced Xiantian emitted a stream of black smoke. His clothing was corroded by toxins, and a large hole instantly dissolved. However, the corrosion didn’t end with his clothing. That sizzling sound was the flesh of his chest rotting. A dense, black qi spread from that place, and in almost a few seconds, it had already proliferated in all directions. It was invading and contaminating his internal organs!
The pretty-faced Xiantian’s countenance was filled with incredulity: “This is impossible! Who are you? You, you’re also Xiantian — No! Even if you are Xiantian, how could you be able to... This kind of small place...”
The next moment, he couldn’t speak at all. His lips presented a blackish-purple color; they trembled uncontrollably, but couldn’t make a sound. His legs turned limp and he fell to the ground. His shivering fingers took out a medicinal pill from his sleeve and forced it into his mouth.
What was this poison? He didn’t want to die! Ah, he didn’t want to die!
— As for obstructing and insulting Gongyi Tianheng and Gu Zuo?
He already didn’t have the energy and ability.
Tianheng leisurely walked forward. His long legs strode ahead and stepped over the body of this Xiantian.
Gu Zuo: “...”
Revenge was swift! This guy thought he could humiliate them to crawl under his crotch? His big brother immediately made him experience this feeling.
However, this wasn’t important. Gu Zuo quietly asked: “Big brother, is he going to die?”
Tianheng answered without any concern: “He won’t die for the time being. But if he doesn’t take the antidote within four hours, I’m not sure.”
Gu Zuo paused: “Then... Big brother, do you have the antidote?”
Gongyi Tianheng also paused. Shortly after, he smiled: “Nope.”
Gu Zuo was speechless.
Even his big brother didn’t have the antidote. Wasn’t this just saying that he was screwed? Still, the act of emphasizing four hours or not...
Tianheng patted his head: “Since it’s poison that I’ve given, it can naturally be extracted. It might not necessarily require an antidote. But if it’s only extracted, there’ll certainly be many illness left behind.”
Gu Zuo silently nodded: “What big brother says is true.”
So there was a simple and rough solution to the problem... He understood.
Enemies didn’t need to be pitied.
Who made him look for his own abuse?
Previously, the spectating martial artists saw the Xiantian making things difficult for the two and thought that it was going to be a show of using one’s strength to bully the weak. They didn’t expect that while there was someone who’d dominate the other, the perpetrator was reversed.
In the blink of an eye, they realized that those people of the weaker party had discovered that something was wrong here and came over to find the venue! The situation that was originally determined now seemed to have a new development?
At this moment, numerous martial artists couldn’t help getting closer.
Without that Xiantian guarding the entrance here, they should be able to get closer, right? So long as they didn’t rashly barge in, they could get some proper insights while taking care of their small lives? Additionally, these Xiantians were really young...
After exchanging a few words, the two smoothly walked into the Beast Taming Field. Unlike the crowds of people outside, the Beast Taming Field was comparatively spacious and empty. Only, the present scene made Gu Zuo’s recently waning anger reignite all of a sudden!
Between the two groups of people, Gongyi Tianyin was being oppressed by a Xiantian stage one. Although Tianyin’s willpower was resolute and he hardly retreated, Tianyin often dodged and needed to roll on the ground. He cut a sorry figure to escape the other’s clutches. This attitude was seriously like a cat playing with a mouse.
The Xiantian martial artist didn’t seem to be in a rush to win, and just watched Tianyin struggle in this way. On the contrary, he would “stay his hand” from time to time. His goal was only to prolong his own amusement.
There was a fierce struggle within Tianyin’s eyes.
Tianyin also saw that he himself was far from his opponent’s match. If it wasn’t for the previous few days of experience, he might’ve not even had the opportunity to be toyed with as a “mouse”! He wanted to admit defeat, but it was hard for him to said it out loud. Also, if he conceded, then another child of the Gongyi Clan would be subjected to this — Rather than having one more person suffer humiliation, it was better for him to bear it alone!
Merely, this kind of disgrace... Even though he understood the reasoning, he still felt it was embarrassing and hard to endure.
For now, he was only sustained by a streak of determination.
To the side, Gongyi Tianyang and the others all understood why Tianyin persisted on like this. In their hearts, they wanted to have Tianyin concede. Even though it’d be suffering a loss, they couldn’t place it on him alone! But before they even spoke, they saw Tianyin’s expression. His lips opened and closed, mouthing words that prevented them from acting blindly without thinking.
However, although it was like this, the hearts of Tianyang and the others were like they were being tormented in a deep fryer. It was hard to bear it. They understood even more clearly that the opponent’s strength was too powerful. Even if they all worked together, they absolutely wouldn’t be his match! Rather than being completely controlled, it was better to save some strength. Once they shed all pretenses of cordiality, they could stall for more time and have more energy to resist...
The Gongyi Clan was the number one aristocratic family of the Cangyun Empire. The children of the clan passed through many experiences and had many insights. However, they now knew that what they once considered tribulations basically weren’t tribulations at all. If they survived this day, perhaps the things they’d need to go through in the future would be even scarier than today’s matter. The so-called challenging selection they’d already done wasn’t worth mentioning compared to the present conditions of their clan brother undertaking this by himself... The numerous children watched with impassioned eyes.
After Gu Zuo’s anger surged, he quickly verified these people’s strengths.
Four men and two women. The numbers were far fewer than theirs, but when it came to strength, the six were all Xiantian! The Xiantian who was toying with Tianyin at the moment was a man. His play style caused those young men and women to laugh raucously. In particular was the surrounded young girl who was wearing a snow-white fox fur coat. Her appearance was as pretty as treasured pearls, but her muffled laughter had an unspeakable mirth.
This was the skin of a beauty, but the heart of a viper!
Wasn’t that Xiantian martial artist indulging Gongyi Tianyin and the other’s thoughts to make her happy for a while? Tianyin rolling around and giving this shameful performance was the most enjoyable thing to them!
Gu Zuo restrained himself and clenched his fists: “Big brother, not one of those people can be let off! They’re too much!”
Originally, Gongyi Tianheng’s face would always be faintly smiling. At this moment, that sliver of a smile suddenly became somewhat cold. His briefly nodded and spoke softly: “What Ah Zuo says is right.”
Following that, a gust of wind swept from Gu Zuo’s side.
Gu Zuo used his psychic power to cover himself before mobilizing it. Before anyone had the time to discover anything, he promptly arrived next to Gongyi Tianyang. After that, he took out a porcelain bottle. He poured out more than ten medicinal pills and said to him: “Tianyang, one pill per person. Swallow them quickly!”
Tianyang found that Gu Zuo had arrived beside him at some point in time. He felt joy in his heart, knowing that his family’s eldest brother had must have come, too. Soon after, he listened to Gu Zuo’s words and reacted at once. With precise power, he scattered the numerous pills into the hands of all of his clan members.
Gu Zuo withdrew his psychic power, letting himself appear before the crowd of children.
At this very moment, those children, whose lines of sight were originally on Tianyin and that Xiantian martial artist, suddenly realized that among that group of gawking scoundrels, someone was struck with great force and sent flying!
Immediately following which, Gongyi Tianheng’s figure appeared in the blink of an eye. After that, he changed into a streak of blue shadows and shuttled between those Xiantians — The Xiantians also discovered that something was amiss. They promptly drew out their weapons, and used methods to entangle Tianheng.
The long spear in Tianheng’s palm swung out to and fro, confining those five Xiantians between the spear images!
“Who is it? If you have the ability, then come out and show yourself!”
“Where did this garbage come from? Let this young miss kill him!”
“Too hateful! Do you dare to fight fair and square?!”
“Mounting a sneak attack, you have no sense of shame!”
Gongyi Tianheng didn’t pay any attention to such hollering.
For the most part, the five martial artists before him were Xiantian stage two and three. They could do anything they wanted in Hezui City, but to him, they really weren’t considered enemies who were hard to deal with.
If it hadn’t been for their unknown origins, he would’ve killed them immediately. Tianheng’s fight would be finished within a minute.
The arrogance of the mole crickets and ants simply didn’t reach his ears.
However, the fact that Tianheng didn’t care didn’t mean that Gu Zuo didn’t care.
He promptly stated: “A person with inferior skills would call it a sneak attack. Does your beetle-like strength even befit my big brother to use sneak attacks?”
As he spoke, he didn’t wait for their reply. He raised a hand and threw a medicinal pill. It directly struck the ground and made a banging noise.
A faint, black mist erupted and enveloped that group of Xiantians in an instant.
Headed by that young girl wearing the fox fur coat, those people only felt like their backs were burdened with a huge boulder. The blood and true qi within their bodies also seemed to promptly freeze up. They felt ice-cold from head to toe, like they’d almost become ice chunks — All of them toppled over, completely stiff. They couldn’t move anymore.
Gu Zuo pursed his lips: “This is what you’d call a sneak attack!”
Tianheng put away his spear. He swiftly returned to Gu Zuo’s side, and allowed Gu Zuo to stuff him with a pill. His expression was somewhat helpless: “Was there any need to waste a Trick Pill meant for your own protection?”
Gu Zuo still wasn’t too satisfied: “They wanted to scold big brother, so I just stopped them from opening their mouths!”
Tianheng’s heart warmed slightly, and raised a hand to ruffle his hair: “Many thanks for thinking of me, Ah Zuo.”
Gu Zuo’s heart felt a bit more comfortable.
This type of Trick Pill used the methods for making the Bewildering Mist to refine a toxin that spread over a wide area. Anyone in range who was enveloped by the poison wouldn’t be able to run away. Its effects were limited to Xiantian martial artists of the Qi Breathing Realm. The highest of that group was Qi Breathing stage three, so wasn’t it just right to use it?
This was also what they deserved!
After putting down those Xiantians, Gu Zuo calmed down and felt that maybe his reaction just then was a little drastic? But when he thought about it, it was normal. If someone hurled abuses at his dad in the modern era, even if he didn’t have his current abilities, he’d still throw himself over and fight that person! The people here scolded his big brother, so the way he handled things was the same as hitting them. After this, he calmly walked over and gave Tianyin a helping hand.
Everything happened so quickly that Tianyang and the others didn’t react at first. When the people fell over, they hurried over and crowded around, helping Tianyin up. Soon after, they patted off the dust and tidied up his clothes. Everyone felt that they had let him down.
One should know that Tianyin undertook all the insults by himself for the sake of the other children’s dignity. It was really admirable, but it also made them feel both grateful and guilty.
Gongyi Tianyin stood up. His temperament was different from what it was initially.
Perhaps it was due to experiencing this tribulation. If it was said that he was previously a young, exuberant elite, his heroic spirit now had a trace of maturity. It was also steady and forbearing.
He didn’t show any moodiness in blaming or rebuking others. On the contrary, he patted the dust off himself very naturally, and said: “I’m alright. Everyone doesn’t need to worry.”
Tianyang and the others looked at each other in dismay.
How couldn’t they worry...
Gu Zuo gave Tianyin several porcelain bottles: “Take these. The red bottle has Rejuvenation Pills. Take a pill and it’ll let your injuries recover completely.”
Tianyin took it: “Many thanks, Pharmacist Gu.”
Gongyi Tianheng gave him a glance, and faintly nodded his head.
Afterwards, the numerous Gongyi Clan children brought their wrathful lines of sight onto the group of people who were lying on the ground — Although there were two beautiful young girls among them, none of them had any tender or protective feelings.
Gu Zuo looked at the young girl wearing the fox fur coat, who glared as if her eyes would spit fire. He furrowed his brows and asked: “Tianyang, just what happened here? Why did these people make trouble for you guys?”
Without waiting for Tianyang to speak, Tianheng already said: “It’s probably because of the Armor-Plated Rhinos.”
Tianyang also hastily said: “Yes, it’s because of those Armor-Plated Rhinos...”
Following that, the other Gongyi Clan children began talking all at once. The matter was quickly made clear.
Originally, when Gongyi Tianheng and Gu Zuo went to get the Earthen Core Flame, Tianyang had led the Gongyi Clan children back to Hezui City.
After entering the city, they naturally made a scene and received countless gazes. The children of the Gongyi Clan were used to having attention focused upon them, so they didn’t feel it was unsuitable and just headed to Qingyuan Tavern. Many wild beasts in the city saw these Armor-Plated Rhinos and shivered uncontrollably. In response, many martial artists approaching Xiantian all retreated to the sides with envy in their eyes. Under this situation, the numerous children were truly high-spirited. On top of that, everyone felt they’d made big improvements from the experience and their moods were entirely free from worry.
Yet, just when they stopped in front of a restaurant, they knocked directly into this group of Xiantians.
The affair was just as Tianheng said. The group of Xiantians glanced at those Armor-Plated Rhinos, which hadn’t been pulled to the back to be settled down, especially that grade six wild rhino. This made that young girl wearing the fox fur coat to blurt out that she wanted to capture them.
It went without saying that a group of wild rhinos that were grade four and above could normally run rampant without any obstructions. But because they encountered a stronger group, both sides confronted each other.
Merely, the mounts Gongyi Tianyang and the others rode were all grade four wild beasts. Only the grade six wild rhino could truly restrict the Xiantian stage three martial artists among the opposition. However, the grade six wild beast hadn’t been tamed by the children, so it would only come to help when they were in danger.
After that, the other party made a proposal, strong-arming them into a competition. If they lost, they would have to hand over these wild rhinos. If they won, the other party wouldn’t look for trouble any longer.
If the children didn’t agree to their conditions, the other party would fight without holding back. And if the children agreed, the children could first contend for a while before finding an opportunity to escape. Tianyang and the others didn’t have any choice. They were unwilling to enter a life and death struggle with these people so soon, so they were forced to begrudgingly agree.
The following matters were just as Gu Zuo and Gongyi Tianheng witnessed.
That group of Xiantians casually pointed to a person, who happened to be Gongyi Tianyin, to take the field, and the farce began. This seemed to be for the sake of shaming the children and entertaining the other group.
The entire affair was simple to mention, but it was that young girl with the fox fur coat and the several Xiantians who coveted the wild rhinos who caused this quarrel — If it wasn’t for Gu Zuo and Tianheng rushing back in time, these people would’ve finished playing around. They’d have seized the wild rhinos by force and silenced the children!
Gu Zuo finished listening and he had nothing to say.
Originally, Gu Zuo and Tianheng thought things wouldn’t go wrong. If it were Xiantians of the Cangyun Empire, or even the other empires of the Tianwu Continent, they’d most likely give face after seeing so many Gongyi Clan members and making some discreet inquiries. And if there weren’t any Xiantians or the numbers were low, the many wild rhinos would be enough of a deterrent. But these Xiantians had acted like this. Not only was this related to their greed, but there was certainly a big problem with their identities!
Thinking up to here, Gu Zuo looked to Gongyi Tianheng.
Tianheng said: “Ask and we shall know.”
After that, he waved his sleeve. Those martial artists who were still crowding around the Beast Taming Field’s large gate, who wanted to enter but didn’t dare to go in, who were somewhat scared but were reluctant to leave, all involuntarily recoiled.
It was easy for a Xiantian’s power to expel these Houtian martial artists. And after those martial artists were shocked by the various methods Tianheng and Gu Zuo used previously, they didn’t dare spout nonsense now. When they found that they weren’t allowed to continue watching, they hurriedly withdrew and left.
After a short period of time, not a single martial artist remained outside.
Gu Zuo saw that the people were completely gone, and somewhat unwillingly came to the side of those four men and two women who’d collapsed. He looked for a Detoxification Pill and crumbled it between his fingers. Then he scattered it onto those people’s bodies.
These Xiantian martial artists felt better very quickly. Although they still couldn’t move, their mouths could speak.
But what no one could’ve expected was that, the moment the young girl with the fox fur coat could speak, she was already swearing up a storm: “An inferior continent’s garbage dares to treat this young miss like this?! Young miss must flay you all alive to vent the hatred in my heart!”
After she spoke these words, the other few people’s faces uniformly changed color.
The other young girl hastily warned in a low voice: “Young miss...”
The young girl in the fox fur coat sternly shouted: “Shut up!” She turned back to Gu Zuo and berated, “Garbage, give this young miss the antidote quickly! If you don’t, young miss will have you die a horrible death!”
Gu Zuo simply didn’t expect that there’d be a person who could speak so freely under these circumstances.
Generally speaking, such an arrogant person was either raised as a moron, or confident in their backing and felt that their identity was sufficient to make everyone refrain from shooting at the rat for fear of breaking the vase. No one dared to treat her like this.
Gu Zuo felt that she should be the sort who had a backing. However, no matter how much backing one had, a person with such a foul mouth when under someone else’s auspices was probably a person who didn’t care about finding trouble.
As a result, he took out another medicinal pill and directly shot it between the young girl’s cherry-red lips.
T/N: Thanks for the corrections, Charysa!
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